Brian Iwata, a professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Florida who developed an earlier version of the GED, called the self-injurious behavior inhibiting system, or SIBIS, says it’s time to phase it out.

The SIBIS is no longer manufactured, Iwata says: “We found other ways to deal with the problem.”

Iwata says he’s treated hundreds of self-injurious individuals at the Kennedy Krieger Institute at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and the University of Florida, including “the most difficult cases there were to see.” And he’s had success with milder forms of punishment, from timeouts to restraints, as well as rewards.

“It might take longer,” he says. “If we shocked everyone who came in the door, we could probably do things quickly.” But “most professionals in the field do not regard shock as an acceptable form of treatment for problem behavior.”

Does the Judge Rotenberg Center still give painful shocks for behaviors that are not aggressive? hmm, what did the new director say about this practice in July of 2015:

On our trip to JRC I [Jacob Persico] mentioned to Glenda [the current director] that on Jennifer’s behavior sheet that she would be shocked for getting out of bed without permission. Glenda did not deny it or even say that they have stopped the practice, instead she justified this by saying that shocks are sometimes used on behaviors that are a “precursor” to abusive behavior.